Upcoming events

Switch to Calendar View

• PlaceMattersSP - Harboring Resilience: the Past, Present, and Future of Bayboro Harbor

  • When
    24 Mar 2026
  •  
    6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
  • Location
    Nelson Poynter Memorial Library, USF St. Petersburg (140 7th Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701)

  Register

  PlaceMattersSP

  Harboring Resilience: the Past, Present, and Future of Bayboro Harbor 

  Oliver Laczko
  

  Tuesday, March 24, 2026, 6 PM

  

  For over a century, Bayboro Harbor has fueled St. Pete’s growth and economy. But behind its concrete seawalls lies a fragile ecosystem — and a changing climate is pushing us to rethink how we protect our harbor and, by extension, our community. Join Oliver Laczko as he reveals the hidden history and environmental science of Bayboro Harbor, and makes the case for ecological restoration and resilience as key to our region’s future. Discover how restoring Bayboro Harbor can safeguard our city, strengthen Tampa Bay, and inspire action in the face of rising challenges in this interdisciplinary talk.

  Oliver Laczko is a fourth year University of South Florida St. Petersburg Judy Genshaft Honors College Student majoring in Environmental Science and Policy, B.S., with minors in Biology and GIS. He serves as the Vice Chair for the Student Green Energy Fund, which directly involves students with sustainability initiatives and alternative energy projects that benefit the campus and the community. Utilizing USF's special collections as well as the archive at SPMOH, Laczko wrote his senior thesis on the human and environmental history of Bayboro Harbor. 

  Introduction by Dr. Catherine Wilkins, an interdisciplinary educator whose work explores how art, culture, and history shape the stories we tell about ourselves and the world we inhabit. As a faculty member in the Judy Genshaft Honors College at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus, she bridges academic research with community engagement.

  PlaceMattersSP is presented by Preserve the ‘Burg and USF's Nelson Poynter Memorial Library and funding for this installment was provided through a grant from the Florida Humanities with funds from The Mosaic Company. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations  expressed in this program do not  necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities or The Mosaic Company.
  

  
  

  Lecture takes place at the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library, located on the USFSP campus.

  

  Campus Map Detail:

  Purple Rectangles = Parking areas

  Red Circled Building (POY) = Nelson Poynter Memorial Library

  
  

  
  

  Show details